Adobe Creative Cloud has compatibility problems with Mac OS High Sierra in the Adobe CC 2017 release. Adobe is discouraging Creative Cloud users from upgrading to Mac OS High Sierra, also known as macOS 10.13. Adobe Illustrator CC and Adobe InDesign CC do not work with macOS High Sierra in the Creative Cloud 2017 versions of these Adobe software apps, with bugs resulting in crashing, poor performance, and failed installations.

Illustrator CC – macOS High Sierra: Problems, Bugs and Crashing

Adobe Illustrator CC has problems with Mac OS High Sierra that impact both existing users with the app already installed as well as those trying to install the app. For those trying to install Illustrator CC 2017 on macOS High Sierra, the installation fails, and there are errors while installing Illustrator. This appears to be caused with the new Apple File System.

Existing Adobe Illustrator users encounter errors when trying to start the program or while using the app, many of which are caused by Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) compatibility problems with Adobe Illustrator and Mac OS 10.13 High Sierra. Errors occur when starting Illustrator as well as when creating a new document. Some errors lead to Illustrator crashing when creating a new document, others provide error message. The Adobe Illustrator macOS errors continue with important capabilities such as the use of Brushes and Live Corners not working. The widespread problems extend to color management functions in Illustrator for macOS users. American Graphics Institute is not upgrading any computers used for teaching Illustrator until theses bugs are fixed.

Adobe InDesign – macOS High Sierra: Problems, Bugs and Crashing

Adobe InDesign CC problems with macOS make it difficult to use InDesign, a widely used app for creating brochures, catalogs, magazines, and other layouts that are generally distributed in print or PDF format. This InDesign bug with macOS High Sierra causes a box to appear instead of the cursor on screen, making it difficult to select objects or enter text. Because of this, users should not upgrade computers with Adobe Creative Cloud to macOS High Sierra, and all Creative Cloud classes at American Graphics Institute’s classrooms are being delivered on computers that have not had the macOS systems updated. Windows users are not affected by these Creative Cloud bugs.

Adobe Systems profits while Creative Cloud users suffer

Adobe has known for many months that this upgrade to macOS was coming, and has had time to test and prepare its Creative Cloud apps, including InDesign and Illustrator. The week prior to the discovery of the Adobe Creative Cloud – Apple macOS High Sierra bugs, Adobe Systems announced record profits from its sales of Creative Cloud.

At the same time as bugs are hindering users’ ability to work with the Adobe Creative Cloud apps, Adobe has moved a significant amount of Creative Cloud app development to India. Experienced app developers in San Jose and Seattle are being replaced with new, lower cost developers in areas that Adobe describes to its shareholders as “low cost geographies”. While this improves Adobe’s profitability, Adobe Creative Cloud customers suffer from poor quality products that are not compatible with the latest operating systems. Both Microsoft and Apple make pre-release versions of their operating systems to developers such as Adobe. With early access to the new macOS updates, there is no excuse for Adobe Creative Cloud to not work with macOS High Sierra or any other operating system update.

About the author

Christopher Smith is president of American Graphics Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. He is the publisher and editor of the Digital Classroom book series, which have sold more than one million copies. At American Graphics Institute, he provides strategic technology consulting to marketing professionals, publishers and to large technology companies including Google, Apple, Microsoft, and HP. An expert on web analytics and digital marketing, he delivers Google Analytics training along with workshops on digital marketing topics. He is also the author of more than 10 books on electronic publishing tools and technologies, including the Adobe Creative Cloud for Dummies. Christopher did his undergraduate studies the at the University of Minnesota, and then worked for Quark, Inc. prior to joining American Graphics Institute where he has worked for 20 years.